Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Rev. Powell]

MADS ARE BACK: A NIGHT OF SHORTS XII - Four long-ish shorts are riffed: a how-to-attend-a-very-white-50s-prom guide sponsored by Coke, an explanation of how telephones worked decades ago, a bizarre milk promotional short, and a mini-documentary about visual design in the post-war era (that was actually quite good and featured a lot of great mid-century designs). These short compilations tend to be the best way to get into the Mads, and this one is no exception. A lot of special guests in this one as the Mads celebrate their third anniversary of screening, and most of the old MST3K crew congratulate them in short pre-recorded segments. 3/5.

[Dr. Whom]

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

Somehow, I've missed out on this one all the time. In a parallel universe, where magic is common, witches have to move out after their 13th birthday to fend for themselves in the wide world. Trust Studio Ghibli to make an essentially bleak premise into a sweet and heartwarming story.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Wanted Dead Or Alive" (1986)
A former CIA agent turned bounty hunter (Rutger Hauer) is called back to active duty to help capture a terrorist bomber (GenevSimmons) who's planning a massive attack on Los Angeles.
Pretty standard 80s action stuff, arguably Gene's best movie. Apparently this is considered a spiritual sequel to a 1950s Western TV series that starred Steve McQueen (Hauer's character is supposed to be a descendent of McQueen character)

[M.10rda]

"Wanted Dead Or Alive" (1986)
Pretty standard 80s action stuff, arguably Gene's best movie.

What, no love for PHANTOM OF THE PARK?

[M.10rda]

KNOCK AT THE CABIN (2023):
...M. Night's best film?! Granted I've skipped a few, but SIXTH SENSE only functioned once to deliver its twist, and then failed to engage me on a repeat viewing. KNOCK seems to demonstrate Shyamalan learning from past mistakes. It's got the tension and some of the same apocalyptic anxiety of SIGNS w/o hard-selling the spirituality or a climactic twist. Again, the twist(s) in KNOCK are acknowledged briefly but understated, so (unlike SIXTH SENSE) the film focuses (nicely) on conflict instead of revelation. And KNOCK consistently shows off some of Shyamalan's most bold formal visual storytelling since the opening scenes of UNBREAKABLE. I missed the young Shyamalan who seemed to want to shoot his films like Tarkovski, and here he is - even to the extent of recreating the ending of THE SACRIFICE.

The material ultimately succeeds on the strength of the performances. Dave Bautista... dramatic heavyweight? Can't undersell how important his contribution is to the film. If The Rock or John Cena played Leonard, the film would collapse. Heck, if Ethan Hawke played Leonard, the film would collapse. Bautista delivers warmth, gravitas, and also menace. Abby Quinn is also exceptional... couldn't take my eyes off her. The rest of the cast is strong or at least strong enough. As usual, Shyamalan gets impressive mileage out of a child performer.

One question plagued me occasionally: If the ritualistic actions of Leonard and his crew were allowing the Judgment to proceed, why not just refuse to participate, and thereby halt the devastation? In some ways, Jonathan Groff's delirious assertions at the climax explain this, but on reflection I decided it was besides the point to contemplate the specifics of the irrationality of these characters' faith. It's more impressive that KNOCK got me reflecting abstractly on reactionary factionalism, and on extremism in credulity and in skepticism, while allowing sympathy for all its characters. I don't know that it's on the level of THE SACRIFICE but I think it's a strong companion to Michael Tolkin's THE RAPTURE. Plus into the bargain, the most unheimliche use of "Boogie Shoes" you'll ever likely hear in a film.

4/5

[lester1/2jr]

Missing 411: The Hunted (2019) - Documentary about hunters who have gone missing while hunting. If you are a participator in that lifestyle this is a must see, but non rifle bearing viewers might find it a little loose in terms of organization, with more immediately engaging stuff like potential paranormal involvement randomly tacked on at the end.

People go missing in national parks all the time. I got lost in a forest once. It was scary as Hell and the area was a tiny fraction of the amount of space in these cases. It does happen though, which seems to kind of go over the head of the director. "Why was this person nearly 11 miles from where they were supposed to be???"  because they got lost?  "How is that searchers going over the same area found a pair of boots that hadn't been there before" because they missed it the first time?

That's what really missing from this: an explanation of what does happen when people get lost. Even if you believe Bigfoot or aliens were involved in these disappearances, they probably weren't involved in EVERY SINGLE ONE.

3.75/ 5 some cool stuff though. especially the 70's era clips of weird forest noises

[Rev. Powell]

SPOONFUL OF SUGAR (2022): Millicent applies for a nanny job caring for an autistic kid with multiple allergies; unbeknownst to the parents (who are pretty screwed up couple themselves), Millicent is under psychiatric care, undergoing an experimental therapy where she microdoses LSD daily. A lot of good elements and possibilities here that don't really come together satisfactorily; the lead struggles to hit the difficult "weird girl" notes, which doesn't help things. On Shudder. 2/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Rampage" (2018)
A space-station explosion causes experimental bio-material to crash to earth, where it has unusual effects on three different animals - a gorilla in a zoo, an alligator, and a wolf, all of whom grow to enormous size and converge on Chicago to start smashin' stuff up. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is the gorilla's keeper, who has to try to save his primate friend and stop the giant critters.
Loosely based on the cartoony giant-monster arcade game from the late 80s, this is a decent creature feature, fast moving with plenty of property destruction. It's no masterpiece but it kept my inner 8 year old entertained.

[claws]

Missing 411: The Hunted (2019) - Documentary about hunters who have gone missing while hunting. If you are a participator in that lifestyle this is a must see, but non rifle bearing viewers might find it a little loose in terms of organization, with more immediately engaging stuff like potential paranormal involvement randomly tacked on at the end.

People go missing in national parks all the time. I got lost in a forest once. It was scary as Hell and the area was a tiny fraction of the amount of space in these cases. It does happen though, which seems to kind of go over the head of the director. "Why was this person nearly 11 miles from where they were supposed to be???"  because they got lost?  "How is that searchers going over the same area found a pair of boots that hadn't been there before" because they missed it the first time?

That's what really missing from this: an explanation of what does happen when people get lost. Even if you believe Bigfoot or aliens were involved in these disappearances, they probably weren't involved in EVERY SINGLE ONE.

3.75/ 5 some cool stuff though. especially the 70's era clips of weird forest noises

I was watching a video on youtube some time ago about a middle aged couple both with years of experience in hiking. They went hiking on a popular mountain/forest hiking trail. The woman had minor health issues and sat down for a small break. The husband continued to walk for about 160 feet and waited a few minutes. When his wife didn't show up he walked back and she was gone.

Apparently the wife had to "use the toilet" and went into a wooded area next to the trail. That's where she got lost. Search teams found her weeks later. She died of starvation inside a small tent she had in her backpack. Her body was located only like 1 mile from the busy hiking trail. The search team combed that very location days before but found nothing. So strange.

[lester1/2jr]

Claws- the forest is an unfamiliar environment and you can't see where you're going. It's like being blind or something.

[indianasmith]

DEVOTION (2023) - Based on the true story of the first black Naval aviator, Jesse Brown, this movie is a bit slow at first but really builds up to an amazing conclusion.  Very well done. And if, like me, you grew up watching BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP, seeing those F4U Corsairs in action was a great trip down memory lane!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Murder In The Front Row" (2019)
This was my 3rd or 4th viewing of this tons o' fun documentary on the fabled Bay Area Thrash Metal scene of the 80s. If you're a thrash fan and you still haven't seen it yet (and if you haven't, shame on you!), it's streaming on Tubi, which is free.

[lester1/2jr]

The Ghoul (1933) - I'm a little confused because I thought I saw a movie called The Ghoul about a creepy grave robber who had an uneasy relationship with his doctor client? I guess that was something else.

This was a cool, relatively big budget movie about a guy who, having become a devotee of an Egyptian religious cult, seeks to live forever via being buried with a jewel, which gets stolen. Karloff is intense and the cast contrasts the intensity of his performance with light comedy mostly. It's not scary enough to be on the level of Dracula or dark enough to be as good as Island of Lost Souls but it's good. It gets a little jumbled with the supernatural aspect.

4.25/ 5

[FatFreddysCat]

We're a little late to the party, but we signed up for Disney+ yesterday. I've already started going down the Simpsons rabbit hole, starting with the first four or five episodes of Season 1.

I also watched:
"Stan Lee" (2023)
An enjoyable biography of Stan the Man, told mostly in his own voice via interviews he'd recorded over the years. Some critics have called this a puff piece because it glosses over Stan's controversial habit of claiming sole credit for creating certain iconic characters and giving the artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko the short shrift, and completely ignores the various, questionable business dealings he was involved in towards the end of his life (anyone remember "POW! Entertainment" or "Stan Lee Media?" Yeah, me neither), but honestly, I could listen to Stan tell stories about the old Marvel Bullpen days all day long so none of that bothered me. Worth watching if you were ever an old school Marvel fanboy.

[Rev. Powell]

SECRET SOCIETY FOR SLOW ROMANCE (2022): A series of long conversations set in one apartment between two DIY directors (who can't act) as they discuss independent filmmaking and slowly fall in love. Inspired by MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, but the personalities are not anywhere near as interesting. I hesitate to review this, because I talked to the director and he's a really nice and hard-working guy, and I admire what he's trying to do making his own movies for no money. On the other hand, I can't really recommend this to anyone here; I think the only people who would be interested in it are other underground filmmakers. So I'm not giving it a rating.

VINYAN (2008): Emanuelle Beart and Rufus Sewell spend everything they have to pay a triad kingpin to smuggle them to the remotest jungles of Burma searching for their lost son (who is almost certainly long dead). A grief drama/adventure story that turns into a feverish jungle nightmare, culminating in haunting imagery; worth the journey. 3.5/5.